Putin agrees with Ukraine ceasefire ‘in principle’; details are still being worked out 

Just one day after U.S. and Ukraine representatives agreed on a framework for a ceasefire with Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin says he supports the 30-day pause, although the details need to be worked out.

“So the idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it,” Putin said at a news conference Thursday in Moscow, the Associated Press reported. “But there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to discuss it with our American colleagues and partners.”  

His concerns include controlling possible breaches of the truce and whether the month long ceasefire would allow Ukraine to rearm.

“We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis,” Putin said.

The Moscow peace talks started as President Donald Trump warned Russia about rejecting the peace proposal, promising the U.S. would do something “that would be very bad for Russia,” if the peace plan was rejected.    

The U.S. mediated cease-fire would be effective along the entire area of the conflict, reported CNN. Previously Ukraine had suggested that they would only back a limited cease-fire in some areas.  

“Ukraine accepts this proposal, we consider it positive, we are ready to take such a step, and the United States of America must convince Russia to do so,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, adding that the ceasefire would start the moment Moscow agrees to it, said CNN.  

In the meantime, the U.S. has restored all military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine in its war against Russia, even as principals hope a cease-fire will commence shortly.  

Now the team that met with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, must convince their counterparts in Moscow to agree to a cease-fire.  

“The best goodwill gesture the Russians can provide is to say yes, to say yes to the offer that the Ukrainians have made to stop the shooting, to stop the fighting and get to the table,” said Rubio after the cease-fire deal had been hammered out with the Ukrainian government. “If they say no, then we will unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here.”  

U.S. Special envoy Steve Witkoff landed in Moscow this morning to start talks with Russia.  

Putin has been seen recently as pushing the Russian war forward as vigorously as possible.  

Russian troops have been reporting advances in the Kursk area, while Putin has appeared prominently on TV, dressed in military fatigues, which is unusual for him, reported Politico.eu.  

“I am counting on the fact that all the combat tasks facing our units will be fulfilled and the territory of the Kursk region will soon be completely liberated from the enemy,” Putin said, while noting that all Ukrainian soldiers will be treated as “terrorists.” 

The offensive, however, hasn’t stopped Russia from putting out its own overbearing demands for peace, a typically Russian tactic dating back to the Soviet Union.  

Prior to being head of state, Putin worked in the Soviet era intelligence arm, the KGB, and rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel.  

Reuters has reported that Putin delivered a list of demands to the U.S., although it’s unclear if these demands must be met before peace talks start, before a cease-fire commences or under what conditions Ukraine needs to accept them.  

Reuters said officials told them the list was similar to previous ones from Russia.  

Russian has previously demanded permanent prohibition of Ukraine from joining NATO, no foreign troops allowed on Ukrainian soil and foreign recognition of four Ukrainian regions that Russia claims, said Reuters.  

The Kyiv Independent said those territories include Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. 

In addition, Russia said it will not cede any territory that it’s already captured, hence the Putin emphasis on a renewed drive to capture territory.  

Conflicting reports, however, have said that Russian peace terms are essentially no different than the demands the old Soviet Union started making to the U.S. back as early as 1945.  

But sorting out the terms is a little complicated because in addition to discussing the war between Russia and Ukraine, Russia wants a complete reset of relations between itself and the U.S. 

“These are the same Russian demands that have been made since 1945,” Kori Schake, a former Pentagon official who directs foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, told Reuters.  

Still, Russia came to the table after Trump warned the former communist country not to reject this chance at peace.  

Flanked by Vice President JD Vance and other members of his administration, Trump was asked by a reporter if there was any pressure he could put on Russia to accept the terms of the cease-fire.  

“There are things you could do that wouldn’t be pleasant. In a financial sense, I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia,” said Trump.  

The U.S. president then reiterated that he didn’t want to impose financial penalties on Russia– which he said would be “devastating”– because Trump’s aim was to create peace.  

When asked if he had plans to meet with Putin personally, the president said he couldn’t comment but noted that he felt the chances of peace were pretty good.  

“We’ve had a good relationship with both parties, actually, and we’ll see,” added Trump, saying he’s felt the more difficult party to negotiations was Ukraine’s Zelenskyy, with whom he openly sparred late last month. “And hopefully we can get a cease fire from Russia. And if we do, I think that would be 80% of the way to getting this horrible bloodbath finished.” 

Lion Deputy Managing Editor Adam Wittenberg contributed to this report.